Comparing the Fastest VPNs so You Get the Privacy You Want and the Speed You Need

VPNs are an increasingly common choice as more and more internet users worry about privacy. But they’re also notoriously slow, and the only thing worse than being tracked on your internet journey is never getting to take it because your VPN is too slow. So we worked with PCMag to track down the fastest VPNs to preserve your stealth and your speed.

If you’re looking for the best of the best, you might want to know that NordVPN is PCMag’s Editor’s Choice winner for 2018. But if speed is your top goal, you’ll want to know that NordVPN ranked third in our tests (which is still pretty great). Like IPVanish, NordVPN doesn’t use virtual servers. And if you need service in China, you’ll be glad to know that Windows users can use NordVPN there.

For an extra fee, you can also get a dedicated static IP address in Germany, the Netherlands, the U.K. and the U.S. They also promise not to sell your data. Here are the other details you’re probably interested in:

Torguard bills itself as having “the fastest VPN protocol on the net” and according to our research, they’re right. TorGuard is an especially good choice for BitTorrent as you can get a static, dedicated IP address and a Romanian DDoS-protect IP address for a little extra cash. How does it compare on the other parameters that matter most?

Editors' Note: IPVanish is owned by j2 Global, the parent company of Ookla

IPVanish boasts that it’s “the world’s best VPN service” which is not something we can confirm, but we will say that they were the second fastest VPN we tested. IPVanish also offers unlimited bandwidth and server switching.

If you’re concerned about your VPN using virtual servers, IPVanish might be the right choice for you. They don’t use them, and because IPVanish owns and operate almost all of their own equipment (and they carefully vet the small percentage they lease) they know what they’re talking about. Here’s what else you need to know:

They also have apps for Android, ChromeOS, iOS, Linux, macOS, and Windows. IPVanish focuses entirely on VPNs, so if this is the VPN you’ve been looking for, head on over to their site. There’s a seven-day money back guarantee just in case.

The fourth fastest VPN on our list, Private Internet Access, uses only bare-metal servers and encryption based on the Blowfish CBC algorithm to protect your privacy online. They also boast services based in several western countries to bypass government censorship.

Private Internet Access is also the cheapest VPN on this list, though that comes at the expense of add-ons like purchasing additional connections or static IPs. They’ve also ceased operations in Russia in a bid to protect user privacy.